Synthesis of Azolines and Imidazoles and their Use in Drug Design

Abstract

Heterocycles are very important functional groups, especially in medicinal chemistry. They are not only pivotal in the synthesis of drugs, but also form part of the structure of a diversity of drugs, vitamins, natural products and biomolecules. The importance of azolines and imidazoles in heterocycles lies in the fact that their derivatives are known for analgesic, antifungal, antihypertensive, antiobesity, anticancer, and other biological activity. Additionally, they can inhibit butyrylcholinesterase, acetylcholinesterase, carboxylesterase and quorum sensing. Due to these properties, the present contribution reviews the use of azoline and imidazole moieties in recent drug synthesis based on classic as well as non-classic methods, the latter employing microwave and sonication energies. Also included is the preparation from oxazoline of nanostructured material having biomedical applications. Hence, the present focus is on the synthesis of azolines and imidazoles that are directly involved in the preparation of drug precursors and potential drugs.